Club Is Denied a License to Show Safe Sex
Operators of a gay bathhouse in Studio City were denied permission Friday to continue an AIDS-education program that features live demonstrations of safe-sex acts.
A zoning variance that would have authorized live entertainment so that demonstrations could be staged at the Corral Club, 3747 Cahuenga Blvd., was denied by a Los Angeles zoning officer.
Club operator Ted Ross urged Associate Zoning Administrator James Crisp to approve the variance so programs demonstrating such things as the proper use of condoms can continue.
Ross said his club has been staging such “uninhibited education sessions” since 1983. He said some of the programs are conducted by state-funded experts on acquired immune deficiency syndrome education.
The variance request was protested by several nearby homeowners and merchants, who said they fear that the 21-year-old club is trying to expand its operations.
Ross denied any expansion plans for his members-only club, however.
“I realize the nature of the subject is quite sensitive, especially in light of the AIDS situation,” he said. “But we aren’t doing anything different than what we’ve been doing.”
In denying the variance, Crisp disputed the contention that a live-entertainment permit is needed for “health purposes.”
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